An icy start to the heated Galway v Tipp rivalry
1987: Nicky English of Tipperary in action against Conor Hayes of Galway during the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Semi-Final match between Tipperary and Galway at Croke Park in Dublin. Pic: Ray McManus/Sportsfile
Just as they are born, rivalries have to be conceived. Galway and Tipperary’s ferocious five-year friction may have started in 1987 but the genesis was eight years earlier when Babs Keating was Galway skills coach.
Invited by the players via former Clare hurler Fr Jack Solan, then curate in Kiltormer, Keating together with trainer Cyril Farrell brought the group to a first All-Ireland final in four years, overcoming the great four-in-a-row hunting Cork team in the semi-final.
Just as goalkeeper Seamus Shinners was blamed for the final loss to Kilkenny, so too was Keating for starting him when the selectors, not he, had the authority.
Keating was never contacted by Galway following the game. Legend has it the players met him at a league match in Dungarvan in December 1981 when they angrily queried why he didn’t return, to which Keating replied, “Is it not manners to wait to be asked?”
By that stage, they had won the county’s second-ever All-Ireland title led by a 30-year-old Farrell who had assumed control of the team.
Speaking three years ago about the disappointment of 1979, Farrell said he felt like he was “the only one that was really hurting.”
Just how much input Farrell had in Keating not coming on board for 1980 might be disputed but the perception at least added to the coolness between the two avid horse-racing men in the years to come as Galway and Tipperary managers.
In both the 1987 All-Ireland semi-final and ‘88 All-Ireland final, it was a past student of Keating’s in Noel Lane who proved Tipp's undoing with second-half goals as a sub.
“It’s a funny one because Babs was my idol growing up as he was for many hurling people around the country,” says Lane. “The barefoot wonder when he threw off the shoes, I really looked up to him. I love his style, personality and character, so you can imagine me being fascinated by him and him coming up to coach us in ‘79.
“Whatever happened in later years, Babs taught me everything I know about hurling. I might have come back to haunt him with a couple of goals that snuck over the line but what he did for me in ‘79 really helped me mature as a player. The confidence he gave me. We didn’t win in ‘79 but I performed well in the semi-final against Cork and final against Kilkenny and we had a great friendship forever afterwards. I am honoured and privileged to say Babs is a friend.”
Others who were on the ‘79 team mightn’t have been as fond of Keating. Sylvie Linnane didn’t break into the team until Farrell took over. “Sylvie wasn’t making the team under him (Keating) at the time so that probably gave him an edge,” recalls Michael 'Hopper' McGrath.
Hostilities grew in 1989 when Tony Keady was reported for playing illegally for a Galway-dominated Laois against Tipperary in New York.
A 12-month suspension was recommended and later upheld by Central Council by two votes. With many accusing Tipperary of collaring him for punishment, a Keady-less Galway lost a bitter All-Ireland semi-final by three points.
Keating, speaking to this newspaper in 2019, recalled the Keady affair two years after the great centre-back's passing.
“The Galway game was a nasty affair and I prefer not to dwell on it too much because of Tony’s passing. He was an exceptional player and a really nice guy.
“I thought Galway blamed us unfairly on Tony not playing. Whatever meeting that decided Tony’s fate, (then Tipperary secretary) Tommy Barrett was our representative and I didn’t have to discuss too much with him but I said to him, 'Whatever you do, vote for Keady’s reinstatement,' which he did. I don’t ever remember Galway acknowledging that or thanking Tommy for that.”
In Galway minds, that was just the half of it. In Keady’s Pete Finnerty blasted referee John Denton’s performance. After Linnane was sent off for an off-the-ball blow on Nicky English, McGrath, an All-Star the two previous seasons, also saw the line for jumping into Conor O’Donovan.
McGrath says now: “At the time, we didn’t like each other, We were the top two teams for a four or five-year period. We were on top in ‘87 and ‘88 and then the ‘89 semi-final was so controversial it added to the dislike and then they beat us in ‘91. It was fierce. Maybe we would have won more were it not for them and vice versa.
“It probably did boil over at times but any game we played, league or whatever, there were massive crowds. There was fierce interest whenever we met. We had a great ‘89 league final as well. The two managers at the time built it up a bit as well. They weren’t afraid to talk out of turn.”
As it did with the Cork and Meath teams of that era, tension dissipated over time and bereavement.
“When Tony Keady passed prematurely, the whole Tipperary team were there,” says Lane. “Someone said you wouldn’t have gotten as many at one of their reunions.”
A championship rivalry that reads eight-seven in Galway’s favour since 1987, McGrath reckons it will be as close as it has been the last four occasions when only a score has separated them.
“I can’t see it any other way. Whoever wins this has a great chance of an All-Ireland.
“Henry Shefflin probably could have done with a bit of silverware. It was a sickener to lose the Leinster final like that but then Cork were a point away from sending Tipperary out of the championship. Both teams will throw the shackles off because they have to go for it. There is no safety net."
Lane concurs.
“There’s nothing between them. You just want someone with a cool head to take their chance when it comes their way.”
He should know.
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